Ziggy Marley plays at Gathering of the Vibes

Sean Spillane

Published 3:32 pm, Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Ziggy Marley has already had an exceptional career, following in his father's footsteps by reaching the heights of stardom as a reggae singer.

He won three Grammy Awards as the frontman of the Melody Makers -- a band that included siblings Sharon, Cedella and Stephen -- and also has won three as a solo artist. He even has a Daytime Emmy Award for his song "I Love You Too," which was featured on the Disney Channel's "3rd and Bird" show.

Marley released "Fly Rasta," his fifth solo album, on April 15 and has been on the road promoting it since. He'll show off some new songs, as well as older favorites, when he performs Sunday, Aug. 3, at 4 p.m. on the Main Stage at the Gathering of the Vibes music and arts festival at Seaside Park in Bridgeport. It his first appearance at the Vibes, now in its 19th year.

More Information

Gathering of the Vibes, Seaside Park, at the foot of Park Avenue, Bridgeport. Thursday, July 31-Sunday, Aug. 3. www.gatheringofthevibes.com.

"The reception's been good," Marley, 45, said of the new album during a recent phone interview from Los Angeles. "We've been touring and we've been getting good responses."

He wanted to expand his sound on "Fly Rasta," and he's pleased with the results.

"I think I opened myself up more just by listening to different music, whether it was the Grateful Dead or Justin Timberlake," he said. "I was wide open, basically. I think that that gives the music an opportunity to expand if I can expand my capabilities."

In addition to his music career, Marley has a lot of other irons in the fire, including his monthly "Ziggy Marley's Legends of Reggae" program on SiriusXM radio. The show features Marley interviewing the giants of reggae, as well as playing his favorite music of the genre. What got him hooked on the idea for the program was the chance to showcase "the artists that came before us, which is something I like doing," he said.

"So we started doing (interviews) at some concerts where I backed up some of these legends of this music. And then I felt like, `Let me try to do a radio show,' and so we got that set up."

Marley's Emmy Award-winning song "I Love You Too" was from a children's album that he released in 2009 called "Family Time." The song was the basis for a children's book of the same name that came out in March.

"I've been doing things in the kids' world for many years, including the PBS show `Arthur,' which we did the theme song for," he said. "I've been in a lot of kids-oriented programs -- `Sesame Street' and `Shark Tale' -- I've been doing stuff for a long time pertaining to children.

"It's a way for me to get the message out to children. I believe children are the most receptive audience because they are not yet limited in what they're willing to hear, what ideas they're willing to take. Unlike some adults who have made up their minds on what they believe, and they don't want to change and don't want to hear anything different. With kids, their minds are not made up yet and you have a chance to tell them your ideas."

The singer also has started Ziggy Marley Organics, which sells hemp seed oil and coconut oil, and may branch out into other foods that are organic and, above all, not genetically modified organisms.

"Food is very important to me because I care about my health," he said. "Even making music, when I'm healthy and my body is operating at a high level and my mind is operating at a high level, the music comes out better. Everything is intertwined and connected."

"When I got the opportunity to do an organic and non-GMO line, I took to it with hemp seed oil and coconut oil. It gives me a chance to talk about food, about non-GMO, and about the idea that everybody has the right to know what is in their food and if their food has been modified in any form. I encourage people to put healthy things into their bodies. That is the first medicine."

Marley -- and his family members -- also were involved in the making of "Marley," a documentary about Bob Marley by Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald. The film comes out Thursday, Aug. 7, on DVD and blu-ray.

"There's more to be told, but I'm pleased with it," Marley said of the movie. "We were quite involved in it, working with the director and everybody else, getting together all of the elements that were put into it, looking at it in different stages and approving it, and giving ideas. It's the first time we've been so involved in a visual piece of work about my father."

sspillane@ctpost.com

Gathering of the Vibes, Seaside Park, at the foot of Park Avenue, Bridgeport. Thursday, July 31-Sunday, Aug. 3. www.gatheringofthevibes.com.